One may say that Erling Haaland has made a swift start. He has already shattered several records and dispelled any reservations about his ability to adapt swiftly to the Premier League.
Haaland began slowly. In the Community Shield match against Liverpool in July, he failed to make an impression and was overshadowed by another debutant, Darwin Nez, who came off the bench for Liverpool with 30 minutes remaining, won a penalty, and scored a goal, prompting speculation that he might adapt to his new environment more quickly.
It appeared after the Community Shield that Haaland would require some time to adapt to the City’s style of play and English football. He was criticized for his lack of engagement in the first half of the game, in which he had the fewest touches of any outfield player with just eight, and mocked for hitting the crossbar from six yards out in the final minute of play.
Pep Guardiola felt compelled to justify his recent acquisition, stating, “It is good for him to see the truth in a new country and a new league, but he was there.” “He failed to score. He is of exceptional quality and will do the task.
Nine weeks later, this prognosis has been proven accurate: Haaland has truly accomplished the goal. He dispelled any concerns of a slow start in the league by scoring twice against West Ham in City’s first game of the season.
He then scored seven more goals in his next four games, breaking the record previously held by Sergio Agüero and Micky Quinn for the most goals scored in a player’s first five games in the competition. Alan Shearer, the league’s all-time leading scorer, needed nine matches to score his first seven goals; Harry Kane needed 18.
Haaland has scored 14 goals in his first eight Premier League appearances, including three home hat-tricks in a row. This is an unprecedented feat. Before the derby, the Norwegian had joined an elite group of players who have scored hat-tricks in consecutive Premier League games.
Les Ferdinand was the first to score a hat trick, doing it for Queens Park Rangers against Nottingham Forest on 10 April 1993 and Everton the following day. Others who have accomplished this feat include Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Ian Wright, and Harry Kane, who is the only player to accomplish this feat twice (against Leicester and Hull in May 2017 and Burnley and Southampton seven months later). Since then, Kane has not scored a hat-trick in the league.
In that time, there have been 58 hat-tricks in the Premier League, 19 of which have been scored by Manchester City players. The city has gathered more than the combined total of Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Arsenal, which have amassed 16 in the last five years.
Only Agüero, with six, and Raheem Sterling and Salah, with four each, have scored more hat-tricks in the last five years than Haaland. This season, the Norwegian has scored as many Premier League goals as Didier Drogba, Jamie Vardy, Robbie Keane, and Cristiano Ronaldo have in their whole Premier League careers.
Haaland has also broken a second record. Michael Owen formerly held the record for the fewest games needed to score three hat-tricks. Owen made his Premier League debut in May 1997, scored his first hat-trick in his 28th appearance, and scored hat-trick number three in his 48th league encounter. What took Owen 18 months has taken Haaland eight weeks.
If Haaland keeps scoring at his current rate of 1.75 goals per game, he will score 66 goals this season, nearly double the Premier League record of 34 goals set by Andy Cole in 1993-94 and equaled by Alan Shearer the following year.
A milestone that had previously looked impenetrable is now within reach: the all-time Premier League record of 60 goals established by Dixie Dean for Everton in the 1927-28, 42-match season. If Haaland continues to score hat-tricks at this rate, he will surpass Agüero’s Premier League record of 12 goals, which he set over a decade, by the end of April.
Haaland has already surpassed a previous record held by Alan Shearer. Between November 1994 and February 1995, the Englishman scored three hat-tricks in a span of 10 matches; Haaland has halved that mark.
The Norwegian has his sights set on another of Shearer’s records. Shearer scored five hat-tricks for Blackburn during the 1995-96 season, which is still a single-season record. Haaland will take a four-week break while the majority of his opponents are in Qatar for the World Cup. He has already played more than half of the season’s required 31 games.
Haaland has also matched Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who scored three hat-tricks in 235 Premier League outings. Haaland is now four goals away from matching his father’s Premier League goal tally of 18 in 181 games. It is safe to say that he will soon become the most productive family member.
Nez scored on his Premier League debut against Fulham on the opening weekend of the season, much like Haaland. At the beginning of the campaign, it was likely that the two newcomers would compete for the golden boot. Since that opening weekend, though, Liverpool’s summer purchase from Benfica has scarcely played in the league and has received as many red cards as goals.
However, Nez is not the only one trailing Haaland. If the 22-year-old stays at City long enough, his accomplishments may eclipse those of every Premier League striker in history.
